Immediate Annuities And Life Expectancy

How Immediate Annuities Work

In its simplest sense, with an immediate annuity you make an initial deposit with an insurance company and in return, the company pays you a guaranteed monthly income for the rest of your life.

In order to calculate the payment you will receive, the insurance company will estimate your life expectancy according to your age and gender. The income payment you receive is usually referred to as a “Payout Rate”. For a $100,000 investment paying $5000 per year, you would therefore have a 5% payout rate.

It’s important to note, the Rate of Return on this as an investment has NOTHING to do with the payout rate. The rate of return can only be calculated at the end of the payment stream.

These payout rates change with the overall market conditions, and in general, the older you are, the more income you will receive. Conventional wisdom would have you wait till your latter years to buy your immediate annuity…

But there is a catch- the thing about life expectancy is, the older you get, the more likely you are to live longer!

About Life Expectancy

According to the statistics of mortality first quantified by Benjamin Gompertz in 1825, in any given year mortality rate increases by approximately 9%. So with every passing year, your chances of dying are roughly the same, but the pool just gets smaller.

Insurance companies know this, and so an investor age 65 may find an immediate annuity to be a ‘better deal’ than a 75 or 80 year year old investor… The 80 year old investor has passed the gauntlet of 15 years of mortality probability and is proven to be long lived, whereas the 65 year old, and his peers in the same pool of insured customers, has many more years of probable mortality ahead.

Therefore the offer the insurance company makes to the 65 year old may be a better deal in the long run than the offer the same individual gets if they wait 15 years to buy their lifetime income.

About Longevity Protection

There is no doubt that longevity protection is a valuable benefit, especially for people with long life expectancy history in the family, great health, or other considerations. But don’t wait too long to put it in place if you know you need it.

To find out for sure, the best thing to do is to look at quotes. Click on for a live Immediate Annuity Quotetool you can input your age and state and see payout rates. On that page, use the back button on your browser to see how the payout rates vary with age. Look at the payout for yourself now, and in 3 years, 5 years, 10 years, etc, to see what suits you best.

Pure Longevity Insurance

The most efficient way to ensure against outliving your money is through the use of Deferred Income Annuities. Be sure to explore that section. When high yield, fixed term Secondary Market Annuities are combined with Deferred Income Annuities, you have a nearly perfect and optimal plan.

Author

Nathaniel

Nathaniel M. Pulsifer is a retirement income expert who builds plans for clients that produce financial freedom and security, and that work even when the markets tank. His clients enjoy their retirement with income annuities that offer the optimal combination of Safety, Flexibility, Profitability, and Longevity specific to their needs.

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